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MCI Brazil celebrated International Day Against Homophobia with special guest Luiz Fernando Uchoa, LGBT rights activist. Invited for the entire day at the office, Talents had the chance to speak with him. All together, they discussed gender diversity in our society, but also within MCI, and reflected on concrete actions and possibilities to better manage and support diversity.
Toys With Wings is a charity organization that collects used and new toys from all over the world to distribute them inside refugee camps, orphanages, centers for disabled children and pediatric hospitals.
MCI Middle-East has been supporting Toys with Wings for the last 5 years.
In 2019 again, Talents wanted to show their support and bring smiles to the faces of children who receive their donations. They were glad to collect 2,881 toys and distribute them at the Toys With Wings centre.
MCI UK have been supporting the incredible Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) throughout 2019. This charity saves lives at sea 24 hours a day, and solely relies on volunteers and supporters to run their lifesaving service.
On RNLI’s London Lifeboat Day – 30 April, three highly motivated Talents donned RNLI’s yellow lifeboat jackets and collected donations at one of central London’s busiest stations, London Bridge.
Congratulations to the team for raising over €130 for the RNLI volunteers in just over an hour!
The International Congress and Convention Association wanted to do more around sustainability for its 58th congress, and in particular, when it came to engaging delegates in sustainable practices.
MCI Canada ideated a daily self-sustainability checklist to help attendees track what measures they’d taken to reduce their environmental footprint. The checklist comprised of 33 actions to check off and was integrated in the attendees’ event app. Each action was aligned with the UN 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
After the congress, MCI created the following infographic to illustrate where attendees focused their sustainability efforts and the contributions made to each SDG:
Dorier Geneva has been supporting the International Foundation for Research in Paraplegia (IRP) for over 10 years and offers consulting time, as well as manpower and AV equipment during their annual Bal du Printemps.
This charity gala dinner is the occasion for some 520 guests and 100 partners to meet and show their generosity. This event is one of the main source of revenues for the Foundation. In 2019, Dorier Team were glad, this year again, to contribute to this meaningful event that raised over € 285,000.
Visit Brussels hosted the European Association Summit (EAS), an annual meeting of exchange and networking between international associations. For this 7th edition, held under the theme “share and co-create”, the organisers wanted to create an event model in which stakeholders are inspired to adopt more responsible behaviours. MCI Benelux worked with Visit Brussels teams to create and implement a sustainable approach following a Reduce – Reuse – Recycle strategy.
Key Achievements:
Promoting Mental WellbeingWorld Mental Health Day, is a day for global mental health education, awareness and advocacy. Each of our offices in Australia did their bit to raise awareness and promote mental wellbeing on 10 October 2019.
Misconceptions and misrepresentations about those experiencing mental illness are damaging to people’s lives. The purpose was to look at mental health in a positive light, in an effort to reduce stigma and make way for more people to seek the help and support they deserve. Our Talents in each Australian office put together some activities to do their bit:
Melbourne destressed with an indoor picnic and organized the delivery of air plants for each workspace. Brisbane created an educational and inspirational poster wall, took some exercise and enjoyed a group lunch. Sydney pepped up the office with some creative activities to encourage people to reflect and communicate on topics important to mental wellbeing.
Devastating bushfires have been hitting the whole country of Australia in November and December 2019. MCI Australia Talents wanted to show their support to the people in bush fire affected areas and to the courageous volunteers and firefighters battling flames everyday.
Individual donations as well as support from MCI, raised over € 350. Everyone did their bit and also baked or donated yummy treats. To lighten the team’s mood, Talents came up with a popular diversion: Pin the Tail on the Hot Firefighter game!
Bravo to all MCI Australia Talents for generously pitching in to make a difference!
Our colleagues in MCI Brazil promoted health and wellness during their 2019 Health Week with a wide range of activities to choose from.
From video game in the cafeteria to massages, workshops and talks with expert nutritionist, gymnastics or even health screening test, Talents were assured to find something they like!
The Team went further and collaborated with two local NGOs to make a difference:
The Team created an adoption campaign and collected dog food for the NGO. One of the dogs got adopted during the visit. No doubt it was the best moment of the week!
Their donations arrived in Mozambique along with Renovatio and its team of professionals and volunteers, offering consultations and quality glasses for free to the population in need.
This kind of activities definitely filled everyone’s heart with satisfaction and inspiration.
MCI China organised the second “Sustainability Week” in the office with a triple goal in mind: Donate – Recycle – Reuse, that benefits not only the planet but also the local communities.
Talents participated in the initiative “E-Waste Drive with AmCham”, co-organized by Netspring Green IT Programs. The company Netspring upcycles donated electronic items to outfit e-classrooms for underprivileged children in China. 50 Talents donated an entire box of used electronic items (worth about €130).
The second activity of this Sustainability Week was the “RE:FORM Project”. Talents donated 5 boxes of clothes in total (worth about € 660) to the RE:FORM programme. This programme provides a reliable system to recycle discarded clothing and either upcycle, resell or donate it to local communities, ensuring collected items are used to their maximum potential.
MCI France Team and our partner Hilton Hotels & Resorts joined forces to clean up the streets of Paris city. This “Clean Walk” was a great opportunity to raise awareness on waste reduction and recycling.
In total, the team collected 24 kg of waste, recycled by MCI France’s partner, Les Joyeux Recycleurs, a waste disposal and recycling company. They were proud to share the results of this walk with the local public authorities.
Besides the environmental aspect, this action was the perfect occasion for MCI and Hilton Group to share and exchange their vision on Sustainability matters.
This initiative highlights that conversation and collaboration with our partners is key if we want to maximise our positive impact. A great activity combining environmental action and knowledge sharing!
Growing Moustaches for the good causeIn November 2019, MCI & Dorier Geneva supported the Movember Foundation. The idea is simple, for the entire month of Movember, each ”Mo Bro” must grow and groom a moustache to create conversation and raise funds for men’s health issues, such as prostate cancer, testicular cancer, and men’s suicide.
Talents had the pleasure to invite Scott Poynton, Community Ambassador for Movember Switzerland in the office to get a better understanding of this movement.
Throughout the month, everyone in the office was encouraged to support the Movember pillars:
Thanks to all their efforts and Talents’ personal donations, CHF 2,654 (approx. €2450) were raised in total for the Movember Foundation!
With a focus on healthy living, International Yoga Day is celebrated worldwide every year on 21 June. MCI India Talents assembled early morning on this day with their yoga mats and a smile on their faces for a special Yoga session.
After learning about the benefits of practicing yoga in our daily life, Talents tried different yoga poses or ‘asanas’ as demonstrated by the trainer. Yoga is not only beneficial for our mind but also increases our body’s immunity to fight diseases. It is a form of exercise that can be practiced by all age groups.
MCI India Talents felt rejuvenated at the end of the session and felt refreshed during their whole day. Many Talents have decided to practice Yoga at home regularly to look and feel healthy!
St. Patrick’s Day is a cultural and religious holiday celebrated on 17 March and named in honour of the patron saint of Ireland. The festival commemorates the arrival of Christianity in Ireland, as well as celebrating Irish heritage and culture.
Every year it gets bigger and better, it’s becoming a world-well known celebration. Many people would wear green clothing on the day and party through the night with Irish food and drinks for this celebration.
MCI Ireland Talents are proud to be Irish! In 2019 they decided to do things differently and take care of their beloved country. They wanted to make a positive impact to their local community and they did!
Talents volunteered to clean the beach for St. Patrick’s Day as the MCI office is located within walking distance to one of the busiest beaches in Ireland. To organise it the best way possible, the team notified the NGO Clean Coast and received instructions of how to go about it.
After all, St. Patrick is about going green isn’t it? Let’s make green more than just a colour!
In 2019, MCI Singapore launched impactful initiatives in their office to reduce waste.
Talents contributed to the local initiative “EcoBank” for Zero-Waste. This initiative encourages people to donate toys, clothes, books, electronics, household appliances, art and accessories that are in good, resalable condition instead of throwing them away. It aims to break the typical ‘take-make-consume and waste’ cycle and promote a more sustainable lifestyle among Singaporeans. MCI Singapore talents contributed to the 2019 edition by donating 153 items including notebooks, Lego blocks, toys, clothes, handbags, shoes etc.
The donated items were sold at the EcoBank Bazaar, with the proceeds going to Arc Children’s Centre to aid children with cancer or other life-threatening illnesses. Unsold goods were donated to the Embodhi Foundation to benefit low-income women in Sri Lanka, India and Vietnam.
Other impactful zero-waste initiative led in our Singapore office in 2019 was to offer every Talents their own collapsible lunchbox to use as an alternative to disposable plastic packaging when buying food from the nearby eateries.
Talents are proud to lead the change against plastic and towards zero-waste for a more sustainable society!
Our Spain team got together to be part of the Blood Donor Marathon in Barcelona.
On 11 January 2019, blood banks all over Catalonia region have launched a blood donation campaign which aims to attract 10,000 donors. The 2019 campaign was specifically aimed at young people who are also encouraged to spread the word on social media and become #bloodfluencers.
The team shared: “it was such a great experience to be part of the #bloodfluencer campaign and encourage others to get involved for people who need it”.
MCI Spain Talents donated 500 new blankets to the non-profit foundation Fiet Gratia, an organization which objective is to create opportunities for social and economic development to the most disadvantaged.
With its main programme “Project Rescue”, Fiet Gratia offers comprehensive support to women in situations of risk and vulnerability, mainly to women victims of trafficking and sexual exploitation.
The organisation needs the support from everyone to be able to achieve its mission. MCI Spain Team was proud and happy to play their part and make sure that each blanket reaches the hands of the people who need it most.
Dealing with your health during busy times is far from the mind; it is however the most important thing one should be thinking about.
In 2019, the Dutch Health Month team decided to take it to a next level. Since we should practice what we preach, they used the pillars of their creative team to set up MCI The Netherlands Health Month programme in July. Applying a design thinking approach, they created 4 pillars : GENIUS – STRENGTH – GLOW – MODE. Each week focused on a specific a pillar, through activities, external speakers and fun triggers.
Next to the external speakers, the team also created mindful moments with ”Mind your Head‘’ meditation sessions.
This Health Month was part of a larger Energy Programme that runs throughout the year so that Talents have the opportunity to improve their health all year round.
For the past couple of years, MCI The Netherlands have been participating in the “Cooking in Another Kitchen” initiative. This initiative is held at a homeless shelter in Amsterdam where people come to cook hearty meals to people who are socially disadvantaged and isolated.
The cooking project offers these individuals a healthy, warm dinner and creates opportunities for them to reconnect and develop a sense of community and belonging.
Once again in 2019, the Talents from MCI The Netherlands participated for 8 days of cooking! Eight teams of 5 Talents went grocery shopping and cooked delicious food directly at the shelter.
Talents from MCI Baltimore rolled up their sleeves to help Civic Works’ Community Lot Team. This non-profit transforms vacant and abandoned lots in Baltimore City into community gardens and green spaces. MCI Talents worked on the Arlington Project on Hayward street in Baltimore City. The team dug holes to stabilise benches and a trench for a rain garden. They removed trash, cleared large stones, and moved dirt.
This space was a lot that attracted illegal drug activity and is now being transformed into a safe green space that will have a vegetable garden, an outdoor kitchen, benches for gathering, an outside classroom, open space for yoga and zumba, and an orchard.
This area is dedicated to people in the community and elementary schools.
A great workout as well during a beautiful spring morning!
In 2019, our colleagues from MCI Ireland created a global walking challenge called ‘Mind Over Miles with MCI’ to promote good health and well being throughout our offices.
This friendly competition encouraged every office to get moving in March and achieve the highest number of steps together!
In total, 18 offices participated with 255+ participants and together, we reached the impressive result of 48,744 kms walked. As a group we walked more than the total distance it takes to walk around the world!
Together, we go further!
For our 2019 annual Global Academy, gathering our MCI Talents from around the world, we have organised a 5K Fun Run & Walk and partnered with the Association Les Petits Princes.
This NGO gives children suffering from serious, life-threatening illness like cancer, leukaemia and other genetic diseases the opportunity to fulfil their dreams.
Our superheroes who braved the bad weather, walked and ran 5 km along the famous “La Croisette” promenade in Cannes. The run raised €4,346 for Les Petits Princes and made 3-year-old Capucine’s dream come true!
Indeed, thanks to MCI’s support, Capucine spent a weekend away from hospital and travelled to Disneyland with her parents where she got to finally meet with her Disney idol, Minnie!
Leaving A Positive LegacyTo mark their 100th anniversary, KLM requested MCI Argentina to design an experience that embodied their commitment to a more sustainable future for the aviation industry and the next generations of travelers. Several local artists were called up to paint murals around Buenos Aires. The artworks were painted with photocatalytic, an ecological non-toxic paint that has the property of absorbing CO2 – thus serving the purpose of an adult tree contributing to the air quality of the city.
To perform the project, the artists got inspired from KLM’s four Anniversary pillars:
By leveraging their own key resources, time and expertise, MCI Australia Team helped make two major charity event happen in 2019: the famous Lilac Ball and Little Big Gala.
MCI Australia has been a long-term supporter of the Nelune Foundation, one of the country’s three national charities. Once again in 2019, the team provided pro-bono assistance to the Foundation on their annual fundraising event, the Lilac Ball. This year’s edition was a huge success, raising over €1,2 million to support the Foundation’s mission. The event’s great outcome will boost the Foundation’s efforts in providing psychological and practical support for public hospital and underprivileged cancer patients. It will also help funding research fellowship and building a new Survivorship Centre at Randwick Hospital for cancer survivors.
Few days later, MCI Australia team made another great success at Little Big Steps annual fundraising gala. Little Big Steps works to provide help, encouragement, hope and better health to kids with cancer. For this year’s event, MCI provided pre-event and onsite management, as well as design work for the NGO. The gala, held on 12 September, was a sell-out event with 270 guests attending and a staggering €50,000 raised.
In 2019, MCI Brussels partnered with Familie Redlich to organise the second edition of the travelling exhibition “Ocean Plastics Lab” (OPL) in Brussels. This initiative launched by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research with the support of the European Commission and the German Marine Research Consortium aimed at showcasing the contribution of sciences to understand and tackle the problem of plastic pollution in the oceans.
A wide range of exhibits, interactive installations and animations were displayed in the Ocean Plastics Lab.
For this second edition, the OPL included a DIY recycling station. Visitors could bring their own plastic waste, recycle it onsite and create new items out of it. Between 19 and 30 September 2019, the exhibition attracted over 5,000 participants. Schools from all over Belgium came to visit the exhibition and raise awareness towards this global issue amongst the youngest generation.
This exhibition was made possible thanks to the contribution of over 60 scientific institutions, EU projects, NGOs, foundations and intergovernmental organisations from around the globe. The event was open to the public and free of charge.
Photo credits: @ BMBF/david Plas
In 2019, MCI China accompanied Alibaba Group to bring its 3rd Global Conference on Women and Entrepreneurship to life, under the theme “The World She Made”.
This conference invites 500 to 800 leading women from various industries with the entrepreneurial spirit to share inspiring stories from their journeys and valuable lessons from their lives.
Held in 3 locations at the same time – Tokyo, Jakarta and Mumbai, the conference brought meaningful discussions and explored new possibilities for women in this dynamic era of industrial and technological innovation.
MCI China Team is proud to support this initiative that successfully motivate and empower women willing to start in the business world. This conference contributes to unlocking the entrepreneurial potential in women, promoting gender equality in business and conveys inspiring voices and journeys across Asia.
From 23 to 27 July 2019, Paris hosted the XVIII World Congress of the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD). WFD is a global organisation working to
ensure equal rights for 70 million deaf people around the globe. The congress is a global reference for the Deaf Community worldwide that works to promote equal rights for deaf people and helps recognising their diversity. Under the overarching theme Sign Language Rights for All, this years’ Congress highlighted that enjoyment of linguistic rights for everyone is essential to guarantee the inclusion of the Deaf Community within our society.
MCI France was proud to support the Federation for the organisation of Europe’s greatest platform dedicated to the Deaf Community that welcomed over 2,500 deaf people.
MCI Teams worked closely with the Organising Committee for 5 years on the coordination of the whole event, with one main challenge in mind: ensuring inclusion and accessibility of the event for all. Talents worked on the exhibition, sponsorship, guest management, registration, accommodation and onsite social programme.
This was a unique opportunity for the team to experience Deaf culture and to work together with the partners (venue, caterer, onsite staff) on meeting the specific needs of the participants. MCI France team had the chance to welcome a deaf colleague from MCI USA, who specially came to give a hand before and during the congress. The project’s underlying values (diversity, equality and respect) truly reflect MCI’s culture.
Our Talents were proud to help make it happen!
At MCI, giving back to the community is part of our culture. MCI France brings this commitment to life in their events and in particular with the “Solidarity Cloakroom” initiative. MCI France Congress Team entrusts UNICEF (United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund) volunteers with the management of congress cloakrooms. Participants are encouraged to donate to UNICEF when leaving their belongings at the cloakroom. These contributions are used to finance the NGO’s global programmes.
With a successful first experience in 2016 at a medical congress, MCI Team has been offering this meaningful idea to their clients ever since. Between 2016 and 2019, MCI France relied on UNICEF volunteers for managing the cloakrooms at twelve of their clients’ congresses gathering between 500 – 5,000 participants.
As a result, over €35,000 have been raised in total for UNICEF and used to fund health and nutrition products as well as to support the NGO’s global actions for the world’s most vulnerable children.
We are proud to support human-centred initiatives that truly make a difference.
Once again, MCI Gen
eva and Dorier Switzerland joined forces to bring the Swiss Red Cross Ball to life last October. For the 2019 Ball, the theme ‘Brighten the Lives of Our Elders’ aimed at assisting vulnerable elderly people in Armenia and Geneva. The 17th edition of the gala held in Geneva was attended by more than 500 guests, including many Swiss and international celebrities.
MCI & Dorier Teams, in collaboration with the communication agency Blossom, were responsible for full event management and production of the night, from stage design to audio-visual. Their objective was to create an event that embodied the Red Cross’ humanitarian mission, while also encouraging fundraising for the cause and ensuring an entertaining programme of live performances. A seamlessly-executed evening where like-minded people could engage in meaningful conversations and build lasting relationships.
A record CHF 1 million was raised to support the Swiss Red Cross efforts, thanks to live and silent auctions and a grand tombola, all featuring lots generously donated by local sponsors.
In December 2019, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency and the Government of Switzerland have jointly hosted the first Global Refugee Forum (GRF), co-convened by Turkey, Germany, Ethiopia and Costa Rica.
MCI and Dorier Geneva proudly supported the organisation of this first-ever major event held at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. The Forum brought together 2000 participants coming from 137 countries: governments, international organisations, local authorities, civil society, the private sector, host community members and refugees themselves.
The aim was to announce new measures to ease pressures on host countries, enhance refugee self-reliance, and find lasting solutions for those uprooted from their homes by wars and persecution.
MCI and Dorier teams took care of the hospitality, catering, decor, video, lighting and sound of the Forum. They developped the event app to digitalize the communications. To support the cause, our colleagues offered discounts on the technical equipment and offered much of their time, doing some pro bono work.
UNHCR is committed to reducing its global environmental footprint. In line with this commitment, they wanted to ensure that the Global Refugee Forum’s environmental footprint was kept to a minimum. MCI and Dorier Teams were greatly involved to achieve this goal and make the Forum as sustainable as possible.
Key Achievements:
The MCI Malaysia team dedicated some of their time to organise a youth football challenge with grassroot development in mind. The MCI team invited 28 football clubs and paid personal visits to orphanage homes and under-privileged communities, invited them, funded their transportation and provided them food allowance so that they could also participate in the game.
As a result, two orphanage homes and one under-privileged community were able to compete with the professional clubs, which would not have been possible without MCI Malaysia’s support and coordination.
Barriers were broken and disparities were dissolved, as all teams high-fived and shook hands in encouragement before and after each match.
MCI Nordics partners with the Stockholms Stadsmission, one of Sweden’s greatest charity organisations that supports the most vulnerable ones in Stockholm.
Together, they create special events dedicated to low-income and disadvantaged families in Stockholm. The goal is to create fun and unforgettable moments for all children, regardless of their background or family situation. In 2019, they created two events of this kind.
The first one during the Spring school break, where they invited the families to a popular trampoline park in Stockholm and to Exploria, the largest entertainment park in Europe. MCI arranged transportation for everyone as well as delicious breakfast bags.
Given the real success and positive feedback from everyone involved, MCI Nordics reconducted the experience for the Autumn school break. Families were welcomed at a spa hotel in central Stockholm. The first part of the day was dedicated to games, with a soap bubble artist and magicians. After lunch, the “cinema” room opened up, starring “Alvin and the Chipmunks” movie with some popcorn. The day was full of laughter, smiles and excitement.
The real goal of these events is to create a space where these children are allowed to be kids, to dream and where they create long-lasting memories. MCI Talents are personally proud to make these initiatives happen.
MCI Nordics, together with Gothenburg Convention Bureau and Swedish Exhibition & Congress Centre, hosted the Associations World Congress – European Edition in April 2019. With host city Gothenburg ranked as the world’s most sustainable meeting destination according to the Global Destination Sustainability (GDS) Index, the congress served as a platform to showcase best practices in terms of sustainability integration and lead the way in the industry. A sustainability policy set out the ambitions and served as a guide to minimize the congress’ negative impact while leaving a positive legacy.
Key Achievements:
The 26th Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) World Congress themed “Smart Mobility, Empowering Cities”, took place in October 2019 and gathered over 10,000 participants at Suntec Singapore. In line with the Congress organising committee’s ambition for more sustainable practices, MCI Singapore worked with the venue to encourage responsible choices that also resonated with the innovative aspect of this Congress.
Key achievements:
Emirates Diabetes & Endocrine Congress (EDEC) is the premier platform in the Middle-East to update the healthcare community on the advances in the ever-changing field of diabetes and endocrine diseases. MCI Middle-East worked with the congress’ organising committee to favour and implement sustainable solutions that would be economically beneficial.
Key Achievements:
On Human rights Day, MCI Geneva lent its expertise to the first edition of the Young Activist Summit. An occasion that brought together a panel of young female activists led by 2018 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Nadia Murad.
The group of activists shared their experiences as modern-day heroines fighting injustice and helping drive progress for women worldwide.
MCI Teams brought their support and expertise for all the communication and branding aspects of the event and 15 Talents volunteered onsite, assisting with the logistics, welcoming and badge collection.
Banksia Sustainability Awards
Recognising Australia’s sustainable excellence
The 2018 Banksia Sustainability Awards – Australia’s SDG Barometer introduced a new way of recognising Australia’s sustainable excellence under the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals. The Banksia Foundation is a well-established not-for-profit organisation dedicated to working with Government, industry and community to focus attention on the recognition of excellence in sustainability.
MCI Australia has supported the Banksia Foundation annual awards event for the past six years. Once again in 2018, the team provided pro bono staffing and reduced fees to support the Foundation achieve its mission. By leveraging its own best resources, time and expertise, MCI Australia Team played a great part to make this event happen.